Movies & Life

A Malayalam movie with a Christian backdrop is rare and when the story is about a woman, even better! “Molly Aunty Rocks”, the title is self-explanatory. She comes to live in Kerala for two years (to take care of some financial matters) after living in the US; not only doesn't she fit into the society but sticks out like a sore thumb in her husband’s family! A daughter -in- law can never be a daughter; the only thing you get from them is the family name! There might be exceptions, but I have yet to see one. Molly aunty is fearless, independent and she speaks her mind. These are not traits acceptable in a Malayalee woman. We prefer soft spoken (=doesn’t voice her opinions, agrees to everything the husband or his family says), family oriented (=has no life of her own, dedicates her life to cooking, cleaning, working as well as serving the in-laws) and classy (= someone who puts up with all sorts of nonsense, doesn't let the world know what is going on in the house, believing her tears, prayers and sacrifices will get her a front row seat in heaven). A woman entering into marriage loses herself, the self she has known for the past 20 + years. She has to cut ties with her parents and siblings, and become the property of the husband and his family. Wouldn't it be a good idea, if every woman goes through a memory erasing procedure and gets reprogrammed prior to marriage??!!

 I am still trying to understand the need for marriage in a woman’s life, first time around it is the next thing to do once you completed your education. The reason for giving it another shot (re-marrying) is to have someone by your side as you get old. Is this person going to wake me up and hand me a cup of hot tea on some mornings? Is he going to remind me to take my meds? Or am I signing up to take care of him? I have seen enough drama in my own life as well as others. I am not referring to the show that is put up spending lakhs of rupees for food, decorations and entertainment for the guest arriving at the ceremony, but the drama that occurs every day, living under the same roof and yet having to text each other about taking the kids to the doctor or to an after school activity, cause you can’t even stand listening to each other’s voices. Where spouses would do anything to limit interaction and live parallel lives. We communicate with friends and live in the virtual world of social networking. Smart phones have become part of our body! I see big houses but no homes, huge dining rooms but no one to sit down at the dining table, expensive cars but no one to go on a late night drive and enjoy the moon lit night. Where is the companionship which is the vital part of this bond?

 Molly aunty has that element in her relationship with her husband; she has a husband who understands her and stands by her even though she is impulsive. However, he is labeled a “Penkonthan”. The story goes something like this, she is asked to pay 30,000 rupees as income tax overdue. She sets off to verify the claim and meets with an official who asks for a bribe to help settle the matter. His justification, she only has to pay half the original amount. As a result of filing a case against him for demanding a bribe, they send her an even bigger income tax bill. Hoping for a resolution, she meets with the Assistant Commissioner who is a young man, who absolutely shows no willingness to help her, but is determined to insult her for having the audacity to question the system.  An NRI’s worst night mare!!  They know that the woman is getting ready to leave the country in a few days to join her family back in the US and they thought she would just pay the amount if threatened to withhold her passport. I know I would have caved in, but not Molly aunty!! I am one of the many Indians, responsible for such social injustices thriving due to our lack of time and accepting it as the way of getting things done. We have bigger things to do and reforming our country is nowhere in our list of priorities. I have given up on my country, which is why I left in search of a better life!!

Molly aunty and the Assistant Commissioner are members of the same church & he takes a seat behind her at the Sunday mass. They are both equally shocked to see each other when Molly aunty turns around to pass the offertory collection basket! And later like a stubborn little kid she turns right back without giving him the kiss of peace! I couldn't help but notice that she had a lot of childlike aspects to her character!

I have to tell you about something that happened in church during the New Years’ service. It was late, around 11:30 pm.  I was standing (struggling to stay awake) right behind one of the many uncles in a suit (the official church wear of middle aged men!!),  he got the got the kiss of peace from the person in front of him and stood there holding both his hands close to his chest, he made it quite clear, that he had no intentions of passing it to me! He then eye-signaled his wife, who stood to his right and I accepted the kiss of peace from her. I was perplexed by the whole incident and still can't figure out what was going on!!

Back to Molly aunty, the whole thing blows out of proportion and even friends start blaming her for being so adamant, but her husband comes to the scene and takes her side. Now, that would be something seen only in movies, just like many other beautiful images that movies portray about families. I don’t want to tell you the whole story, let this be a preview and make you want to watch the movie!